


8,564,713

by NonbinaryRoyalty



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Davenport - Freeform, Lucretia - Freeform, Lup - Freeform, Magnus Burnsides - Freeform, Merle Highchurch - Freeform, taako - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:36:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonbinaryRoyalty/pseuds/NonbinaryRoyalty
Summary: There are 8,564,713 people on the Prime Material Plane when the IPRE starts their mission. Now they are on a different plane, and their home is gone.
Kudos: 10





	8,564,713

**Author's Note:**

> So, the idea from this fic came when Griffin mentioned that the code to the keypad on that door that they had to get through to get to Lucretia's room was going to be the number of people who were on their home plane when the Hunger attacked. They never ended up mentioning it, because Taako used his hole thrower to get through the door, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone, so this happened. Hope you like it <3

8,564,713

8,564,713

They kept repeating the number to each other, and then to themselves, when Captain Davenport suggested they retire to their cabins and get some rest.

As soon as they were out of danger, they discussed what happened. Something or other attacked their plane, as soon as they lifted off. In an effort to protect the Starblaster, and all they had worked for for years, Captain Davenport had fled. Before they had time to really process what was happening, the very fabric of reality seemed to shift, and warp. In an instant, whatever it was that had attacked was gone, and so was their home.

They were safe now. At least, that’s what they told each other, though it was hard to believe after what they’d seen. The plane they’d found themselves on was completely different from the one they’d come from. As far as they could tell, there were no people. At least, not people as they knew them. Though there seemed to be settlements of a sort, their occupants were animals. In this plane, there were intelligent animals. And there was only one sun. And the sky was blue.

If the circumstances were anything else, they probably would have been out there already, exploring this strange new world. They were explorers, after all. Or they were supposed to be. Now they felt more like refugees, with no way of knowing how to get home, or if they even still had a home to return to.

They sat around the small kitchen table in the galley, discussing what had happened. They didn’t know what else to do.

“That was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Unlike anything I’ve ever heard of,” said Barry. “I’ve been studying the planar-system for years, and there was never anything to suggest that something like that was even a remote possibility. I can’t even begin to understand what these readings mean.”

For the last….however long it had been (hours maybe? days?), Barry Bluejeans, the team’s chief scientist had been pouring over the few scans they had gotten from the….thing that had destroyed their home plane, hoping to make sense of it all.

“Whatever it was, it was dangerous. We have to be vigilant, and assume that whatever happened there could happen here too.”

“Did it….did it kill them?” Magnus asked in a quiet voice. Everyone did their best to look at anything that wasn’t another person.

“....the readings from whatever it was weren’t the only ones we got,” Barry admitted. “When it first appeared, life signs from our plane were ordinary. By the time we left, they were down by 82%.”

There was a soft gasp from Lucretia. The others sat in stunned silence, not knowing what to say. And really, what can be said, when you find out that 82% of all life on your home world had been wiped out in a matter of minutes? The silence might have lasted hours, or it might have lasted only a moment. It was hard to say.

“Eight million, five hundred and sixty four thousand, seven hundred and thirteen,” Lucretia said, finally breaking the silence. Everyone stared, and she blushed slightly. “That’s how many people were there. How many people it wiped out.”

They don’t ask how she knew.

The rest of the day was spent speaking, whispering, and thinking that number. Over and over. 8,564,713. 8,564,713. 8,564,713.

8,564,713

8,564,713 people. 8,564,713 people, all with hopes, and dreams, and friends, and families. 8,564,713 people who would never see those dreams realized. 8,564,713 lives cut short. 8,564,713 people dead. How many were children, someone wonders at some point. No one knows the answer. No one wants the answer.

Eventually the hushed whispers turn to silence, as all seven think of those they left behind. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, acquaintances, teachers, students, colleagues, neighbors. Everyone they had ever known in their lives. All gone in the blink of an eye. 8,564,713 gone.

Davenport holds himself together as long as it takes for him to suggest that they all get some rest, and excuse himself. He hides in the first cabin he comes across (Merle’s and Taako’s), distantly hoping the occupants won’t mind. He pretends that no one can hear him crying. The others respect his privacy as best they can by pretending they can’t hear.

Magnus doesn’t make it to the cabin he was meant to share with Barry before he starts crying. The others pretend they can’t hear him either.

When the sounds of their tears have died down to sniffles, Merle gets up to go check on them. His skills as a cleric may be questionable at best, but not for a lack of caring. And while a healing spell isn’t going to fix this kind of hurt, it doesn’t mean he can’t at least try to help.

Barry is despondent, pretending to look at the readings they got from whatever it was that ate their home plane (swallowed up 8,564,713 people), and if the others notice that his eyes are blurring over with tears, well, they don’t mention it.

Taako and Lup cling desperately to each other, as they realize just how close they came to being separated forever, if either of them hadn’t been chosen, or had decided to not apply. They both exhaust themselves thinking of that nightmare scenario, but neither make a move to go to the cabins. Taako is supposed to share with Merle, and Lup is supposed to share with Lucretia. Originally, they hadn’t thought much of not sharing a room, but now even that much separation is too much to bear, and so they sit at the table, hanging on to each other like the contact is the only thing keeping them afloat.

Lucretia is the only one who doesn’t cry. Instead, she writes. She fills page after page of her journals with everything that happened, and then with everything and everyone she can remember from home. Eventually (hours later? It's dark now, and she suspects it has been for a while), she looks up. Barry fell asleep over the readings he was pretending to work with. Lup and Taako are still holding onto each other, barely awake.

“You two can go sleep in our cabin,” she tells them. And when they start to protest, she adds, “I wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight anyway.” It's not a lie.

On their way out of the galley, they wake Barry, and the three of them head to bed at what feels like anywhere between midnight and 3 a.m. leaving Lucretia alone.

Once she hears the doors shut, she finally allows herself to process what happened.

8,564,713 people, who weren’t coming back.

Lucretia starts crying. The others pretend not to hear her too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if you liked it! I have a few ideas for other chapters that I might get around to writing eventually, or I might not. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it <3


End file.
